Sometimes, you want a movie to intellectually stimulate you. Sometimes, though, you just want the titties. Stimulation of a different sort.
Not about an old man in a floating house. I think.
Thanks to dharmabum’s public collection of Sexploitation flicks, the task of picking your pleasure is easier. He’s neatly summed up the genre:
“sex-exploitation” describe a class of independently produced, low budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s/70s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity.
Russ Meyer pops up a lot in the list of films, currently numbering 42. The collection is public, so if you know more films that belong, plug them in by all means! Then go take a long, cold shower.
Few things bring about a sense of nostalgia quite like the classic Merrie Melodies. To help us on our trip down memory lane, Spunkie has created a collection full of them.
Merrie Melodies was kind of a cousin to Looney Toons. Both owned by Warner Brothers, the two series shared the same cast of characters (Bugs, Porky & Daffy among them) and even the same animators. The only way to distinguish between them was often the logo at the beginning of the short.
The characteristic feature of Merrie Melodies, as opposed to Looney Tunes, was that it was conceived as a way to promote WB’s feature films by incorporating a show tune into the animation. This restriction, though, annoyed animators and was soon forgotten about. Extremely popular with the public, Merrie Melodies would run from 1931 to 1969.
There are well over 200 Merrie Melodies, though the collection only currently numbers 38. If you’d like to add more, feel free! The collection is public, which means other users can contribute.
Quick: Name a film set Down Under. And not the one that stars Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.
Not so easy, huh? But luckily for us, Criticker member djross is a good Aussie, and has decided to shine the spotlight on his homeland in a collection of films set in Australia.
Australia: Chock Full of Bad Asses
From Picnic at Hanging Rock to Lantana, this collection is filled with quality. And aborigines. And drag queens. Check it out and if you can think of other films set in the land of Oz, feel free to add them to this public collection.
Many behind-the-scenes full-length documentaries about the process of assembling a film are mere love-ins during which the cast & crew blather on about how “brilliant” and “fun to work” they all mutually are. I recently watched such a featurette on the Changeling DVD, during which Angelina Jolie and Clint Eastwood practically gave each other a tongue bath, so effusive were they in their praise of one another. Nothing about the filmmaking process, just endless slobbery proclamations of what a mastermind he is, how strong she is, how funny he is, how friendly she is, how… slobber, grunt, hump, schlick.
Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp: not about to give each other a tongue bath
But it doesn’t have to be like that! Thanks to user Moribunny, there is a collection dedicated to “real” making-of films. These documentaries truly attempt to shed light on the process of the craft, and some manage to be even more entertaining than their subject. And at least one concerns a film that was never even completed: Lost in La Mancha about Terry Gilliam’s attempt to bring Don Quixote to the screen.
The collection is public, so if you know other great making-of documentaries to add, go for it!
With Pixar gobbling up both critical praise and popular admiration, it’s easy to forget that there’s another li’l animation studio over there in the corner, whimpering for attention. There there, Dreamworks, we haven’t forgotten about you. How could we? It’s because of Shrek 2 that Criticker came into being!
Shrek 2: Humanity’s Cultural Nadir
To help us remember Dreamworks’ other not-quite legendary achievements is a collection of films, created by Hells Zargon. I was amused to see that all my PSIs for these films were in the yellow range. A confirmation of mediocrity.
What is it? Why is Dreamworks unable to ascend to the heights of Pixar? Corporate vision, or just hiring the wrong creative teams?
It’s usually true that the director of the film which won Best Picture at the Oscars also walks home with Best Director. The correlation makes sense… after all, if you directed the best movie, doesn’t that make you the best director? But it’s not always the case…
Criticker user Kangadoodoo has created a public collection which lists out the films which triumphed in the Best Director category (this link orders the films descending by year). It’s especially interesting when viewed alongside the one for Best Picture (created by Quicky).
The best movie of the year, just not the best directed one. Take a seat, Mr. Hitchcock.
The discrepancies are fascinating — a history of snubs and appeals to populism. Crash wins best picture, while Brokeback Mountain had the best director? Please, the Academy knew what the better picture was, they were just afraid to say so. We also find the historic 1940 snubbing of Alfred Hitchcock who lost to John Ford, although his classic Rebecca won the big prize.
Take a look, and if you have any thoughts on other discrepancies make sure to leave them in the comments!
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) was one of the more beloved TV shows of the past couple decades. It ran from 1988 to 1999, with 198 episodes and a full-length movie. The premise is as simple as it is ingenious: make fun of bad movies.
Some of the worst movies of all time were mocked hilariously by Joel Robinson, Mike Roberts and their robotic friends during the show’s run. Criticker user ralexwr has created a public collection which gathers all these films. With “classics” like The Leech Woman and Outlaw of Gor represented, a chuckle can by elicited just by reading the names.
The list is currently incomplete… with 84 films, there are still over a hundred missing. This is a public collection so, if your favorite MST3K episode isn’t there, you can add it yourself. Check out the collection now!
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